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Our Opinion against The Physiological Society of Japan’s Opinion Concerning Animal Testing

On April 16, 2004 , an article entitled "Animal Testing" was posted on the website of the Physiological Society of Japan. Researchers tried to speak against the opposing arguments concerning animal testing. Not everyone will probably be convinced by our one-sided self-justification, but we would still like to clarify our opinion and argument.

The following arguments are posted on the Physiological Society of Japan’s website, http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/psj/public/. Please refer to their website for full text.

<What is Physiological Society of Japan?>

It is a group made up of people who study, teach, and conduct research in physiology. Physiology is the study of structure and function of the body. There are 3,500 members now, and most of them engage in animal testing.

Introduction

Medicine has advanced through animal testing.

Medical development doesn’t necessarily depend on animal testing. China , India , and traditional Japan have done studies without animals. Medicine relying on animal testing is the product of western materialism which looks at living organisms (including human) as “things.” Traditional medicine which doesn’t conduct animal testing is subsistent in both West and East.

It is only natural to sympathize with lab animals, but it is also important to judge rationally.

It sounds as if people who oppose the animal testing are simply being emotional and lack ideal judgment. There are ethics and morals in human society. Even if they are justified from the scientific viewpoint, there are many things that cannot be accepted morally.

What is Animal Testing?

1. Purpose and Necessity of Animal Testing

Using animals for experiments is the same logic as using them for food. It is one of the ways for humans to live.　

Although animal testing and eating meat are the same in terms of human utilization of animals, the degree of pain they experience is profoundly different. Also, just like there are medicines that don’t depend on animal testing, there are lots of cultures and regions that do not consume animals. You cannot say it is a universal behavior of mankind.

2. Usefulness of Animal Experiment

During the 20^th century, extension of the average life span and decline in the infant mortality rate were remarkable. A great number of fields in medicine contributed to these advancements, and they were based on animal testing. It’s not an exaggeration to say that all medical treatments are built on animal testing.

Extension of the average life span and decline in the infant mortality rate were brought about mainly through improvement in nourishment and　work environment. Advancement in medicine has also accumulated through a great number of clinical experiences. You are overestimating animal testing.

Are we seeing the end of animal testing? Has the medicine advanced enough already?

Advances in medicine and the need for animal testing do not necessarily correspond to each other.

A lot of unsolved diseases remain and new sicknesses are appearing one after another.

Industrial activities are polluting environment on a global scale. It is a well-known fact that various serious diseases have come out as a result of such pollution. We need to start making the preventive medicine as our ground rule.

3. Physiology and Animal Testing

Animal testing is necessary and indispensable in all fields of medicine, especially in Physiology. It aims to understand the principle of life, and contributes to the improvement of health and welfare.

The purpose of medicine is to save people from sickness and to keep them in good health. Physiology starts researches by making animals suffer from certain sickness. It does not connect directly with people’s health and welfare.

4. Animal Testing Facts

90% of animals used in testing are mouse and rats. Dogs, cats, and monkeys are about 1% of the total.

Even research institutions cannot figure out the number and kinds of animals that are used for experiments. All experimental researches should be brought forward so we become aware of actual figures.

We purchase animals that have been raised for experimental purpose. For dogs, cats, and monkeys, there are times we legally buy them from local government. Those animals are meant to be killed.

When we request research laboratories to present us with the purchase invoice, addresses of dealers are always marked out. In other words, researchers do not or cannot release purchase information.

When animals are used for experiments, researchers treat them humanely and make best efforts not to cause pain.

Media has recently covered a university’s sloppy management of experimental animals. This was also brought up at the Diet. We cannot trust their claims unless we have outside inspection. 

There are various kinds of experiment.

Type of experiment planned is not known to public. We should take statistics of fields experiments are conducted. It is necessary to have prior registration and license systems to that end. 

We promptly put animals to sleep after the experiments.

As a matter of course, this is stated by the law. 

A sequence of action towards animal testing needs to be approved by ethical committee. This is carried out in response to related regulations.

Those are no more than guideline and not the regulations. Also, there is no outside inspection to check whether they comply with regulations. In addition, the ethical committee is made up of insiders.

Unless we observe the regulations, we are not allowed to present our researches to scientific journals and convention.

Since there are no legal regulations on animal testing in Japan , reliability and the evaluation of the experiment are low.

5. Animal Testing Q and A

1. Is Animal Testing Useless?

It’s been insisted that results of animal testing cannot be applied to humans since we are different species, but this is not right. Also, new drugs become available to humans after tested on animals sufficiently.

When looking at the action of medicine, one study showed that only 27% agreed between the humans and animals. Also, it has been shown that when human tissues are used, metabolism of drugs can be tested in a short time with high accuracy. In addition, researchers have a tendency to quote only good data. Lastly, the side effects of the new drugs are not proved by animal test – they must go through human experiment.

2. Can Animal Testing be Replaced by Alternative Method?

The studies which analyze the function of the body or examine the cause of illness need to rely on animal testing. We cannot expect the alternative method to entirely replace the animal experiments in the near future.

The main purpose of the alternative method is to reduce number of animals sacrificed. There are no standards or incentives to adopt the alternative method.

3. Can we only trust data collected from animals raised for experiments?

Some claim that experimental data that came from cats and monkeys of unknown origin cannot be trusted. They also cannot be published in international journals.

Who is claiming this? Some researchers are claiming that pets are suited for experiments because they show individual specificity. However, when pets show different characteristics in age, medical history, origin, taste, or heredity, the experimental results become inconsistent. According to the researcher survey, one of the factors when purchasing the lab animals was “price”. As a matter of fact, animals with unknown original are merely cheap and disposable.

4. Shouldn’t wild animals or animals taken into the health centers be used for experiments?

In Japan , a large number of wild monkeys are captured and killed because they are harmful. We believe that by using animals that are meant to be killed, we can reduce number of additional animals sacrificed.

Extermination of wild animals is conducted as one of the measures to reduce agricultural damage. As damage caused by wild animals disappears, so does extermination. Researchers lean on agricultural damage to get experimental materials. Even some researchers are saying that they would rather use clean animals which have been raised at the breeding facility. They are horrified by infectious disease such as hepatitis and tuberculosis.

It is thought that animals kept at the health centers can be used for experiments because they are meant to be killed. Last year, many local governments stopped disposal of dogs and cats for researches.

Parvovirus and distemper virus were detected at many facilities where dogs and cats were kept. Don’t they know that many animals that were handed over to researchers died prior to experiments? Currently, number of dogs taken into the facilities is decreasing dramatically. Many local governments have abolished disposal of dogs and cats from the animal rights viewpoint.

5. Animals are used unnecessarily due to duplication of experiments.

One study is insufficient for a scientific truth to be established. Additional studies, which will apply different methods from different angles, are necessary. Sometimes the same method is used again to confirm the result. Even after truths are established, some experiments are practiced by students all the time. These are necessary duplication.

There is no end to researches. However, those studies are supported by our tax. We believe people should decide if such studies are necessary.

6. Animal testing in Japan do not have any regulations and they are at large.

Just like the Unites States and Europe , animal testing in Japan is regulated. However, the framework and the ways regulated vary from country to country. They are reflected in culture, religion, and custom. The way animal testing is regulated in Japan resembles that of the US ' s.

There are no regulations on animal testing in Japan . Regulation is a law established at the Diet and represent people’s will. The “animal protection law” simply says to minimize the pain and to euthanize the lab animals after the experiment. There are no penalties even if you go against these rules. Other standards and notice from Ministry of Education are only guidelines and not enforceable. In addition, animal testing committee is made up of insiders, and there are no standards as to how they are examining. We cannot say that Japan has similar regulations as Europe and the United States . Moreover, in the US , animal testing facilities are required to register in accordance with animal welfare laws. Animal testing facilities in the US need to establish committees which are made up of people with no connection to research organizations. The committee is also required to include at least one representative from general public who is concerned about animal welfare. Research facilities are investigated at least every six months and in case of violation, they could lose funding. Lab technicians are required to go through animal welfare training. These are established by the laws in the United States , and they differ from Japan dramatically.

7. Cruel experiments are conducted in behind the locked doors?

Do we describe people’s surgery conducted behind the locked doors as “cruel practice” or “vivisection”? Just like surgery for people, researchers use anesthesia or painkiller to take strong measures to reduce pain.

The purpose of people’s treatment is recovery and that of animal testing is researching.

8. Primates should not be used?

Because monkeys are close to humans in terms of anatomy and function of the body, they play very important role in field of life science. They are essential to studies of infectious diseases such as SARS and hepatitis. Their necessity has increased more for higher brain function studies.

Monkeys are significantly close to humans in terms of process of evolution. Therefore, their physical and psychological distresses are also close to humans. Nevertheless, no welfare consideration close to that of humans is given to them. In addition, monkeys are on the CITES list (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora）.

9. Why use a wide variety of species?

We use suitable species for research according to the problem. For example, dogs, rabbits, and cats are used for studies of heart and blood vessels related illness. For cancer and infectious disease studies, mouse, rats, rabbits, and monkeys are used. Then rats, cats, and monkeys are often used for nervous system studies.

The animals used for experiments are pets and domesticated animals that have been living with humans. They are familiar and easy to handle. It is inevitable that the public sympathize with those animals.

10. What does 3R mean?

It stands for Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement. It could also include either Responsibility or Review to make it 4R. The Physiological Society of Japan is conducting animal testing based on this 3R principle.

It is not known exactly how 3R was adopted. It is unreliable as there are no standards to adopting 3R.

Complaint from the Physiological Society of Japan

1. Our opinions toward protesters

We think the majority of protesters would like to eat meat and receive medical treatment. Then they want to stop experiments out of pity for animals. These wishes are incompatible.

The reason we oppose to animal testing is not simply because we feel pity for adorable animals. It’s because humans are using, exploiting, and torturing animals excessively. Reducing animal testing will avoid unnecessary medical products or medical treatment. Meat production is not only destructing our environment, but also impairing our health.

Needless to say, the researchers value animal welfare and are treating animals kindly and humanely. We would like the public to realize that our association and researchers have been trying the best to improve the animal welfare.

There are no facts that back up their claim.

2. Stable Securing of Animals

In recent years, securing medium-sized experimental animals (dogs, cats, and monkeys) has become a crisis situation. We need to establish a system where experimental animals can be secured stably. Recently, Ministry of Education has started “National BioResource” to stabilize supply of experimental animals. We will be counting on its accomplishment for stable animal supply, and will also continue to put effort into improving maintenance of experiments.

As far as the purchase record shows, we do not believe it is in a “crisis situation”. Researchers continue to obtain animals without reaching a consensus with the general public on necessity of a particular experiment. On top of all that, they injected billions of tax into “National BioResource Project” – a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Let’s Think Together

We will continue to explain the necessity and significance of animal testing as much as possible. Because we are questioning pros and cons of killing animals, it is certainly an emotional subject. However, we want everyone to hold opinions once they rethink about the fact that humans live on the sacrifice of animals. We would like to think about this matter with everyone.

Humans and animals live by helping each other. We are not living on the sacrifice of animals. We would also like to think about this problem together with researchers. This society is not made up of researchers and pundits; therefore, we would like them to provide us with specific data and to explain in words easily understandable to the public.